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Friday, 25 March 2016

Review - 'Arrow', S04E16 - 'Broken Hearts'

This season's initial promise of an
Oliver Queen committed to a happier and more hopeful outlook seems to
have momentarily set aside as we move firmly into 'post break-up'
territory with Oliver and Felicity.

Here, we see Oliver at what might be
his lowest point, so far, as he is forced to accept that his chance
at a happy life with Felicity may have been lost – ruined by his
own insistence on keeping secrets from the woman he intended on
marrying. Felicity, meanwhile, seems to decided to hide whatever she
might be feeling behind an almost aggressively cheerful mask, while
taking passive-aggressive pot-shots at Oliver whenever the
opportunity presents itself.

It all feels very real, of course (or,
at least, it does in a heightened and melodramatic sort of way) –
but, its not exactly a lot of fun to watch. Stephen Amell and Emily
Bett Rickards were as good as they have always been at portraying
this phase of their respective character's increasingly complicated
relationship, of course – but, as someone who has only ever been
vaguely tolerant of the time spent on it in the past, I can't really
say that I felt all that invested in what I was seeing, here. It's
not that I have any real issues with romantic sub-plots, in general –
I've just never been a fan of the overly melodramatic way that
romance is handled on the sorts of shows that The CW puts out. In
that regard, at least, I suppose I just don't fit the target
demographic.

Unfortunately, it was clear from the
start that the end of 'Olicity' (and, hopefully, that's the only time
I will ever have to type that word) was going to be the primary focus
of this episode. Even when the episode's chosen villain, Cupid (Amy
Gumenick), makes her return, it's with a plan that is clearly
intended to play on this theme in a manner that feels almost
painfully heavy-handed. Cupid, it seems, has decided to declare war
on the entire concept of 'love' as a result of Deadshot's death in
her last appearance. Her plan, it seems, is to target celebrity
couples in Star City – murdering them soon after their wedding, and
leaving them for the police to find as part of some sort of vague
'statement' intended to convince the general populace of the futility
of love (she's crazy, of course – so, her reasoning doesn't need to
make much sense). With Oliver and Felicity being exactly the sort of
celebrity couple that Cupid would target (and, in fact, with them
actually turning out to be one of her targets), it's only natural
that this particularly plot-line would resolve itself with a staged
wedding.

Apart from my issues with romantic
plot-lines in CW shows, in general, another fairly significant issue
I had with this episode is the fact that Cupid is an absurd character
– and, she always has been. Her obsession with the whole concept of
love, and the way in which she instantly fell in love with people who
had saved her life (first Oliver, then Deadshot), came across as
being more 'cartoonish' then real. Her war on love, in this episode,
came across in much the same way.

Cupid is a 'comedy' villain, more than
anything. While her previous appearances were each a lot of fun (with
her unique brand of 'crazy' adding an entertaining lightness to her
episodes), this episode's attempt to place her in a more serious
context simply doesn't work.

Fortunately, this wasn't all that this
episode of Arrow had to offer
– as, there was also Damien Darhk's arrest at the end of the
previous episode, and the issue of whether or not his trial would go
ahead. The elements of court-room drama that this sub-plot added to
the episode was much more compelling than anything we saw with
Felicity and Oliver and Cupid – and, by the end, I found myself
wishing that the episode could have focused more on this. Honestly,
it felt much more important, to me.

With
Darhk's lawyer working to have the case dismissed (through a somewhat
outlandish story portraying Darhk another victim), this episode also
Laurel the opportunity to return to her original role – as a
prosecutor determined to see Darhk's trial go ahead. With Darhk's
lawyer also skillfully undermining Diggle's testimony, the episode
also give Detective Lance the opportunity to step forward. With
Detective Lance being in the perfect position to testify against
Damien Darhk, it seems that Laurel's case may hinge on allowing him
to take the stand – but, of course, with his career and his
reputation on the line, the cost of revealing his role in Darhk's
plan will be extremely high.

As
compelling as these court-room scenes were, it was also painfully
clear that this was simply a sub-plot for this episode. The
comparatively brief amount of screen-time devoted to Damien Darhk's
arrest, and trial, meant that the true drama of these moments was
constantly undermined. If the episode had been structured
differently, so that this was the primary plot-line (with everything
involving Oliver and Felicity's relationship, and Cupid being a
sub-plot), then I'm convinced that the episode, as a whole, would
have been much more successful.

Unfortunately,
what we had instead was a genuinely compelling piece of court-room
drama, built around one of the most engaging villains to have
appeared on Arrow
throughout its entire time on-air, buried beneath scenery-chewing
craziness and heightened melodrama. The after-math of Felicity and
Oliver's break-up was ground that needed to be covered, though –
so, now that it has been, hopefully the focus can shift back to more
interesting territory.